Workmen's advocate., 1887-03-05
FOR MEN OF WARM HEARTS
 AND LEVEL HEADS.
MoTTo, The laws serve the yigilant,
 not those who slecp.'

designated ny that term lnlo uellldlluS which can be realized under present in dustrial and political conditions, and such which presuppose governmental power in the hands of the toilers. In both respects, however, workmen have to rely on their own ability to effect what will be beneficial to them. lnde- pendent politics are the key to the secrets of future craftsmanship, and universal cooperation is the remote but certain port of safety for human progress, jus tice and happiness.
 Whatever intermediate steps are taken, should be taken, not as something by it. l self, but as q means to an end. The Oh- Meet or end being, as stated, cooperation, lll our endcavors should bc calculated to Indo private bos.isn, and to make our lnions or trades organizations capable of pdirecting industrial affairs by way oi contracting for work as organizations \nnd thus dispensing with the labor fleecing agency of employers, the rack Drenting of landlords, the interest taking by shylocks, the proiit-taking of unneCcs sary mddlemen, and all the other ways of faring well upon labor's expense.
 This statement disc.oses the real policy of the labor movement. Exceptions taken to the truth of this statement are too general tO merit discussion at thls occasion. Thus viewing th" whole, the understanding of details k facilitated and serves as a neyer-iaiIing criterion of the value of measures, no matter from what quarters proposed and through what agencies effected.
 Under the impulse of such policy shall discuss the protection wOrkmcn enjoy al the hands of existing laws and legal rules against injuries to life, limb, body and health while in the employ of others for wages.
 The law knows the relation of employ CT and employe under the heading of ''master and servant or "superior and inferior" precisely as in England, Ger many and Russia and does not trouble itself with providing measures against such injuries to health as impercrptibly undermine the human system and tend untimeIy to bereave families of their natural supporters. The moral sense of obligation Is not very pronounced tralt of the character of our 'better' classes, since the ever-growing supply oi new and more vigorous hands does not cause loss to them which appeals to the sensl-
 Ieness of their financial souls, Yet,
 ptistical reports show that the average
 |e of workmen does not reach thirty Hive years and in many occupations 1t is not even from twenty-five to twenty eight years The fault lies somewhere, and it can be remedied by providing for better light and ventilation in workshops, i'll shortening the hours of work, better nutriment and more comfortable lomes
 Of still graver importance are the cases where lives and limbs of worllmeu are endangered in q hundred various ways in the course of their usual cmpiuyment Here the iron wheel of human hCirtlrsS- ness kills, clushes, nutllates and mains innumerable bread-earners; here opens .the battlefield of industry, where greedy laptains try to climb over the bodies of
 he fallen to higher famc and greater
 wealth. Is it necessary to take human
 ' fe to produce the commodities that
 hrong our markets? If ao, why do cap italists not tell Us and produce evidence 'to that effect? If not, why i'll the name 
 world, do they not stop it, as in most cases it can be done? Well, because it would tend to reduce their proiits-and profits must be, no matter how many are made unfortunate.
 The law, it is true, acknowledges q criminal as well as civil responsibility of employers for injuries received by their lyorkmen through the absence of reasor- tlble provisions for their safety.
 The extent and general scope of post A.ive enactments anu the rules of the common or so-CaIIed unWrtten law, how ! ever are too limited to suffer anything like sufficient protection against injuries, kand therefore facilitate the defeat of Fclaims for damages rather than protler legal aid and assistance, such as the law should provide against any wrong i. springing from the acts or omissions ot man against another.
 .fh The criminal liability of employers k q Ahing which has existence only ill theory. No matter how gross the misconduct of employers may have been, no matter how evident the absence of reasonable provisions for the safety ut employees, ! the verdict of Coroners and their lurles is typically; Killed hy accident for which no one is to blame. This will continue the common practice as long d. those interested in justice abstain from
 participating in public affairs, under the
 ,lea of politics being none of labor or A,aniZation's business.
 The rules fixing and regulating tue (k il liability of employers admit of many IntIte distinctions and eNOneratIug eNrrp- t4bns, so that the general tendency k to shift the burden of loss from the shuul- Aers of the strong on those of the weak. The various States have different laws, ! at least in form; but all are uniform in